Google to help emergency services

Google want to help out the emergency services by providing the location of callers who ring 999.

Google say: "When emergency services get a call, they need to know the caller's location to send help and save lives. Today, over 70 per cent of calls to emergency services come from mobile phones, but locating these mobile callers can be a major issue."

"Current emergency solutions rely on cell tower location (which can have a radius of up to several kilometres) or assisted GPS (which can fail indoors). To help address this issue, we created the Emergency Location Service in Android."

"This feature, when supported by your network, sends location from your phone to emergency services when you dial an emergency number. This uses the same location technologies available to apps on your phone, including WiFi, GPS and cell towers, to produce a more reliable emergency location indoors and outdoors."

Now, there's going to be some people who have privacy concerns regarding the use of GPS like this.

However, for the most part, it looks like a great idea, especially for those who have an accident who might be a bit bewildered or confused by what's happened.

"This feature is solely for the use of emergency service providers, and location is never seen or handled by Google. It is sent from your handset to emergency services only when you explicitly place an emergency call, either directly or through your mobile network," said Akshay Kannan, Google product manager.

"Emergency Location Service is supported by over 99 per cent of existing Android devices (version 2.3 out and upwards) through Google Play Services. The service activates when supported by your mobile network operator or emergency infrastructure provider."